Decade II: 1983

Side 2 of a mixtape, compiled circa March 1990, lost along the way, reimagined and recreated 12th August 2024.
 
I hope you've brought your cardboard, there's some electric boogaloo ahead...
 

Again, as the cassette, sleeve and track listing are lost in the car fumes of history, I've recreated this from scratch, a dozen songs culled from my collection in spring 1990, when I originally recorded this thing.

I'll acknowledge the elephant in the room and say that yes, Temptation by Heaven 17 got to #2 in May 1983 and even that wasn't enough to secure a place in this collection, much as I love it. 

Was swapping it out for Kissing With Confidence by Will Powers (a mere #17 in Oct 1983) a step too far? Not for me, it's not. Besides, it's got Carly Simon on vocals and it's produced by Todd Rundgren! And the video's lots of fun.

At the expense of other contemporary classics, I've also given a nod to the fact that though I'd been blown away by The Message and Buffalo Gals, The Rock Steady Crew were the ones that my mates at school were more interested in. Whilst I didn't feel particularly inclined to wear a Sergio Tacchini tracksuit or start body popping behind the Science block, I did enjoy the music. 

I do remember that the original 1983 cassette started with Burning Down The House by Talking Heads, which is an obvious choice, perhaps. What's more surprising is that when released as a single in the UK in July 1983, it failed to chart. It took 16 years, Sir Tom Jones leathery lungs and The Cardigans' polish to take the song into the Top 10.

 

More debuts on this side, including Cocteau Twins with the beautiful (but non-charting) Sugar Hiccup. I perhaps should have picked something from the equally wonderful Sunburst And Snowblind EP as the record buying public at least managed to get that release to #86, but it's all good.

Talk Talk, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Depeche Mode are all back, with debuts from Aztec Camera, Shannon, Wall Of Voodoo, Fun Boy Three and an up-and-coming band from Manchester, with a striking lead singer and lyricist. Sadly now a complete twit, but made a big impression on me as a 12-year old.

 

More from this decade next weekend. Don't miss it, Big Brother is watching....

1) Burning Down The House (Album Version): Talking Heads
2) Oblivious (Album Version): Aztec Camera
3) (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew (Vocal) (Single Version): The Rock Steady Crew
4) Let The Music Play (Radio Edit): Shannon
5) Kissing With Confidence (12" Mix): Will Powers ft. Carly Simon
6) Everything Counts (Single Version): Depeche Mode
7) This Charming Man (Manchester): The Smiths
8) Mexican Radio (UK Extended Mix): Wall Of Voodoo
9) My Foolish Friend (Extended Version): Talk Talk
10) Sugar Hiccup (Single Version): Cocteau Twins
11) Dear Prudence (Single Version) (Cover of The Beatles): Siouxsie & The Banshees
12) Our Lips Are Sealed (Singles Version): Fun Boy Three

20th March 1983: My Foolish Friend EP (#64): 8

27th March 1983: Call Of The West (#57): 9

15th May 1983: Waiting (#7): 12

??? July 1983: Speaking In Tongues (# n/a): 1

14th August 1983: Construction Time Again (#6): 6

9th October 1983: Dear Prudence EP (#3): 11

16th October 1983: High (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew EP (#6): 3

30th October 1983: Kissing With Confidence EP (#17): 5

27th November 1983: High Land, Hard Rain (#18): 2 *

27th November 1983: Sunburst And Snowblind EP (#86): 10

27th November 1983: This Charming Man EP (#25): 7

19th February 1984: Let The Music Play (#14): 4 *

Side Two (46:00) (GD) (M)

* Oblivious initially entered the UK chart on 30th January 1983 and got to #47 by March, but no higher. Second time lucky when Oblivious was re-released at the end of October and got to #18 a month later.

** Let The Music Play first charted on 13th November 1983, peaked at #51, dropped out of the chart for a month or so, then returned in January 1984 for a further 14 weeks.

Decade II: 1982

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded sometime in March 1990, lost sometime in the next two decades, reimagined and recreated 11th August 2024.

 

And the hits just keep on coming...

 

If you were here for last weekend's opening brace of 80s-themed mixtapes, you'll know that of the five cassettes I recorded in 1990, only three remain. 

 

The two lost volumes covered 1982 to 1985 and I've had a go at recreating the track listing and cover art (kind of) from scratch. Some songs I vaguely recall being on the original mixtapes, others I've no idea, but I've excluded any songs that I couldn't have owned or borrowed in spring 1990. Lots had to be left out, inevitably, but I think the end results are faithful reproductions that sit well with their contemporary cassettes.

 

1982 was another fantastic year for pop and I realise how lucky I was to grow up surrounded by all this diverse and exciting music troubling the Top 40. Synths were fully embedded in the mainstream by now but with all sorts of influences and flavours stirred in. 

 

Looking back, there's a marked shift towards heavy marketing and promo by this point: videos, double pack 7" and 12" picture discs with free posters, saturation on kids' TV shows, and so on. If a single wasn't a hit, it would be re-mixed, re-recorded and re-re-re-released until, damn it, it became a hit.

Kiss Me is a prime example of this. Stephen Duffy originally formed the band Tin Tin with a couple of guys from Fashion, a Dexys Midnight Runner and producer Bob Lamb. Kiss Me was their debut single in November 1982 and flopped. The single was remixed and released in the USA by François Kevorkian in 1983 and became a minor club hit. 

 

Taking notice, Duffy's label released the remix in the UK in 1984 and it scraped to #78. Undeterred, Kiss Me was remixed yet again, this time by J.J. Jeczalik (Art Of Noise) and Nicholas Froome, and given one last shot in early 1985. Fourth time lucky, as Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy reached the dizzy heights of #4 and enjoyed several other hits afterwards.

I've cheated a little here and gone for François Kevorkian's remix from 1983, partly because I didn't own the original Tin Tin single back in the day and partly because it's a much better version than the 1982 original.

I've also plumped for the 12" remix of Talk Talk's eponymous single to open proceedings. An early purchase from Plastic Wax Records in Bristol, back when it was in Old Market, opposite the Trinity. As with most Talk Talk extended mixes, there are fewer vocals than the single/album version and lots of none-more-80s bridges, bells and whistles.

I was tempted to drop in the 12" mix of Party Fears Two by Associates but it pops up quite frequently in my 80s mixtapes so I've stuck with the single version here instead. Hearing this for the first time on Top Of The Pops was an attention-grabbing moment and began a lifelong love of Billy MacKenzie. What a voice.

Making their debut here along with Talk Talk are Tears For Fears, Blancmange and Scritti Politti, who will all (probably) reappear in later volumes. Others, like Yazoo, ABC and Monsoon make one-time appearances in this series.

Squeeze wrapped up an incredible run of singles with Annie Get Your Gun, recorded to promote their essential compilation, 45s And Under. 

And should any 1982 collection be without Pete Wylie's epic The Story Of The Blues? No Wah!, sorry, no way!

 

No prizes for guessing the year in tomorrow's post...

1) Talk Talk (Extended Mix Long Version): Talk Talk

2) Don't Go (Album Version): Yazoo

3) Party Fears Two (Single Version): Associates

4) Living On The Ceiling (Single Remix): Blancmange

5) The Story Of The Blues Part One (Single Version): Wah!

6) Mad World (Album Version): Tears For Fears

7) Kiss Me (U.S. Remix) (7" Version): Tin Tin

8) Poison Arrow (Single Version): ABC

9) Windpower (Single Version): Thomas Dolby

10) Ever So Lonely (Single Version): Monsoon

11) Asylums In Jerusalem (Album Version): Scritti Politti

12) Annie Get Your Gun (Single Version): Squeeze

14th March 1982: The Lexicon Of Love (#6): 8

21st March 1982: Sulk (#9): 3

25th April 1982: Talk Talk EP (#52): 1

2nd May 1982: Ever So Lonely EP (#12): 10

25th July 1982: Upstairs At Eric's (#3): 2

8th August 1982: Songs To Remember (#43): 11

5th September 1982: The Golden Age Of Wireless (#31): 9

24th October 1982: Singles: 45's And Under (#43): 12

31st October 1982: The Hurting (#3): 6

??? November 1982: Kiss Me EP (# n/a): 7

21st November 1982: Happy Families (#7): 4

16th January 1983: The Story Of The Blues EP (#3): 5 *

Side One (45:46) (GD) (M)

* The Story Of The Blues first charted on 19th December 1982

This Sound Rule Dancehall

No introduction or justification needed for Horace Andy. It's it's Friday, it must be Feverish, from his 2022 album Midnight Scorchers.

A companion to the same year's Midnight Rocker, both produced by Adrian Sherwood, and re-released as a double album, Rockers & Scorchers at the end of 2022.

They're both stunning albums but don't just take my word for it, what did Horace and Adrian think at the time?

“I’ll be sitting at home listening and full joying it on my Speaker Box dem!’" 

“I’m very happy with the way 'Scorchers’ has turned out; for me, it’s the perfect accompaniment to Midnight Rocker."

What neither mention is that each album also features a couple of really great cover versions.

 

 

 

Happy Friday, everyone!

Wish You Well

It was a shock to read that Matt McBriar of Bicep had surgery for a brain tumour last Friday (9th).

 

Matt (on the right, with Bicep partner Andy Ferguson) had the full diagnosis earlier this year and continued with 'business as usual' until the operation. 

 

Matt is currently recovering in hospital and has revealed, "The good news is firstly, it’s almost certainly not cancerous and secondly, I’ve caught it in the earlier stages of damage."

Here's wishing Matt all the best for a speedy and full recovery. Andy Ferguson will continue solo with Bicep live dates until further notice, including Creamfields on 25th August.

As a reminder/introduction to Matt and Andy's brilliance as Bicep, a selection of videos below, a stunning performance from Glastonbury 2022 (which you can see in full here) and the latest of their CHROMA releases which came out last week, a few days before Matt went into hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Maybe I Don’t Need Your Love To Show Me That I’m Good Enough

I know I posted about Katy J Pearson barely a month ago, but she's released another great single and video in Maybe, so it would be remiss of me not to draw your attention to it.

 
Here's the promo blurb that dropped into my email inbox courtesy of Heavenly Recordings on Tuesday.

 

I’ve had this song with me for years now —  I wrote it about 6 years ago, and it was a little tiny soundbyte demo. Over the last few records I kept going back to it, but it just didn’t click. Heavenly heard it and loved it, and I was like I’m glad you like it but I hate it, it’s the bane of my life, this song is never seeing the light of day, no way. I was so stubborn, but the label really wanted me to put it on the record, so I tried to see if I could like it again. 

 

It took a while to get it there. When I was in the rehearsal room with Huw Evans, a few lyric tweaks happened. The chorus used to be "maybe I need your love / to show me that I’m good enough" and he was like why are you being like this to yourself? It should be the other way round! And I was like oh, ok, thank you, feminist ally in the room. When a man’s telling me what to do in a studio I can get my back up pretty quickly, so it was brave of him to suggest it, but he was right.

 

When we changed the sentiment of the song, now "maybe I don’t need your love / to show me that I’m good enough", my whole feeling about it changed, and it meant that we managed to actually get a handle on what it was meant to be like sonically. It just shows that it’s really important who you choose to have in a room with you.

 

The video is directed by film maker, animator and artist Edie Lawrence, who previously worked with Katy on the brilliant Alligator, and Maybe is equally vibrant and fun. 

 

Based on the (fictional) North Somerset Archeress* Grand Final, it's also an acknowledgement of archery as a sport that pioneered equality for women’s participation. South Korea has dominated women's team archery since it was introduced as an Olympic event in 1988, winning their 10th consecutive gold in Paris a couple of weeks ago in a thrilling final.

* There's plenty of real archery clubs in Somerset (and across the UK), if you've been bitten by the bug.

Katy's album Someday, Now is out on 20th September and it would be understating things somewhat to say that I am looking forward to it.

I Feel You Slipping Away

Today's random pick is Wheels Over Indian Trails by Stanton Miranda aka, er, Miranda Stanton, perhaps better known for her collaborations with Carter Burwell as Thick Pigeon.

 

Wheels Over Indian Trails was originally released in May 1986 as a single on Factory Benelux which, as you may have guessed, was the Belgian counterpart of the legendary Factory label founded by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus and home to, amongst many others, Joy Division and New Order.

The JD/NO connection doesn't end there. Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris perform on the record, as does Gillian's sister Kim, who was also a member of Thick Pigeon. The single was co-produced by film producer Michael Shamberg, Factory and New Order's "eyes and ears" in the United States, and remixed by John Robie, who had reworked Sub-Culture the previous year.

A quick trip to YouTube has revealed that an official video was commissioned for Wheels Over Indian Trails. A lot of it is Miranda playing in the wardrobe and video effects sandbox, with a few visual motifs that later appeared in New Order videos. It's a very lo-fi 80s video and all the better for it.

The vinyl 12" single is on offer on Discogs for a seemingly reasonable starting price of under six quid...until you have a proper look and factor in shipping charges. The sole copy available from a UK seller for example will set you back £35.50, all in.

Digital copies are available at a much more reasonable price. The dub mix on the B-side of the 7" and 12" single is featured on the excellent 2012 compilation, Trevor Jackson presents Metal Dance Industrial/Post-Punk/EBM: Classics & Rarities '80-'88.

 
At the same time as launching Factory Benelux in 1980, Michel Duval and Annik Honoré also co-founded Les Disques Du Crépuscule with artist Benoît Hennebert. The label has been reissuing much of it's back catalogue via Bandcamp this year and in March offered up the 2021 Thick Pigeon compilation Subway (Singles).  The 12" mix of Wheels Over Indian Trails is included as a bonus track. 

 
 
Not an obvious song to cover, but in January 2023, French Radio Constellation gave it a go. A largely faithful reproduction, it's worth a look just to see the video of dancing bats.

If you like that, French Radio Constellation currently have another 222 releases available on Bandcamp. 

Speaking of cover versions, and to bring this post full circle, in 1995 Stanton Miranda covered Love Will Tear Us Apart for a Joy Division tribute album. The video weaves visual excerpts from Wheels Over Indian Trails with clips and photos of (mostly) Ian Curtis and, bizarrely, it kind of works. As does the song. And the pause at 2:40 is just brilliant.

First Class Mael

Many happy returns to Ron Mael, born 12th August 1945.

In keeping with recent birthday celebration posts, here's a selection of videos spanning the last half century, mostly in sequential order, but including a few film, TV and stage appearances. A variety show, if you will. You will be entertained.

Ron's Tap Dance (Live @ Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany) (16th May 1995)

This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us (Disco w/ Ilja Richter, ZDF TV, Germany) (28th September 1974)

Something For The Girl With Everything (TopPop, AVRO TV, Netherlands) (21st February 1975)

Cool Places: Sparks ft. Jane Wiedlin (1983)

Singing In The Shower: Les Rita Mitsouko & Sparks (1988)

Piss Off: FFS (Franz Ferdinand & Sparks) (2015)

Tiny Desk Concert (4 songs) (Live @ NPR Music, Washington DC, USA) (18th July 2023)

Never Mind The Buzzcocks (Series 12, Episode 11) (17th March 2003)

Sparks Facts That Are All 100% True (The Sparks Brothers, directed by Edgar Wright) (2021)

Have a smashing day, Ron!

 

 

 

 

Decade I: 1981

Side 2 of a mixtape compiled 4th February 1990.

 

After setting the bar high with side 1, could I hope to match it on the flipside? Well, this is 1981 we're talking about here...

 

Although I didn't start buying records in earnest for another few years, when I had a Saturday job and therefore money to spend, 1980 and 1981 were perhaps the two years when my love of music became an obsession. 

 

I started sticking posters on my wall, mostly from Look-In, occasionally Smash Hits or one of the other pop mags that included pin-ups and lyrics for all the chart hits. I used to send blank cassettes to my uncle so that he could borrow albums from his local library and help build my collection. I was fascinated by the New Romantic and synthpop bands that would pop up with alarming regularity on kids' TV shows. 

 

And pop videos! It was a perfect time, musically speaking at least.

Making a return visit on this side are Visage, The Human League and O.M.D., others for the first time but destined to reappear in later volumes. Again, I'm really happy with the sequencing of this selection, although I ran out of tape on the original recording and had to go back and fade out Heaven 17 early in order to squeeze in Gary Numan. No such ignominy in this digital age, so you get the full version of (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang, as intended.

I will return to this series over the next few weekends but I have to confess that Decade volumes II and III (1982-1985) were lost many years ago on my travels. I don't have a note of the track listings either so I will aim to recreate selections that reflect what was in my collection at the time.

In the meantime, get that trench coat on, back comb that hair and go stand on a street corner looking moody whilst listening to this on your Walkman!

1) Vienna (Album Version): Ultravox

2) Europe After The Rain (Album Version): John Foxx

3) Mind Of A Toy (Album Version): Visage

4) Passionate Friend (Album Version): The Teardrop Explodes

5) Pretty In Pink (Album Version): The Psychedelic Furs

6) Grey Day (Album Version): Madness

7) Bedsitter (Album Version): Soft Cell

8) The Sound Of The Crowd (Album Version): The Human League

9) Joan Of Arc (Album Version): O.M.D.

10) New Life (Remix): Depeche Mode

11) (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (Album Version): Heaven 17

12) She's Got Claws ('Modern Dance' Edit): Gary Numan

1st March 1981: Vienna (#3): 1

22nd March 1981: Penthouse And Pavement (#45): 11

29th March 1981: Visage (#13): 3

10th May 1981: 7 (#4): 6

24th May 1981: Dare (#12): 8

5th July 1981: Talk Talk Talk (#43): 5

2nd August 1981: Speak & Spell (#11): 10

30th August 1981: Dance (#6): 12

30th August 1981: The Garden (#40): 2

27th September 1981: Wilder (#25): 4

8th November 1981: Architecture & Morality (#5): 9

29th November 1981: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (#4): 7

Side Two (46:24) (GD) (M)

Decade I: 1980

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 3rd February 1990.

 

In 2023, Toby Roberts dreamed of competing in the 2024 Olympics, qualifying in October and yesterday bringing home gold with an incredible boulder and lead performance, aged 19.

In 1990, 19-year old me dreamed of girls, music and getting away from the UK. As Meat Loaf once over emoted on vinyl, two out of three ain't bad. My love life was at least consistent: mostly short-lived or unrequited. But...I did eventually get away from the UK later that year, a life-changing solo experience in Australia. Gold Coast rather than a gold medal, but good enough for me.

And my relationship with music has sustained me through the years, never letting me down. Well, apart from that Simple Minds headline gig at the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol, but nothing's perfect, right?

So, as 1989 turned into 1990 I had the notion of doing a themed series of cassette compilations, looking back at the previous decade. Five C90s, one year per side, 12 songs apiece. 

I had a growing record collection by that time, mostly vinyl and cassettes, with a few CDs creeping in. I also had access to my brother's vinyl - he'd gone to uni in Bournemouth and left most of behind with my parents - and my friend Stuart's collection, to plug any gaps in my 'wants' list.

1980 is inevitably a cracking selection, if I say so myself, as there was so much good music to choose from. Pretty much all of these came from my own records, the only exceptions being Martha & The Muffins (my brother's copy of Metro Music) and Talking Heads and U2, borrowed from Stuart.

And yes, I accept that Once In A Lifetime wasn't released in the UK as a single until January 1981. However, in those pre-internet years, I went by the P&C year stated on the back sleeve and labels. Remain In Light said 1980, so that was good enough for me. I subsequently found that the info printed on records were often unreliable in this regard. in this case, I'm happy to confirm that Remain In Light came out in October 1980. Yippee, me.

A strong opener to the series, then. Could I sustain it? 

You won't have long to find out...

 

1) Messages (10" Version): O.M.D.

2) Fade To Grey (Dance Mix Edit): Visage

3) Echo Beach (Album Version): Martha & The Muffins

4) Once In A Lifetime (Album Version): Talking Heads

5) Call Me (Theme From American Gigolo) (Single Version): Blondie

6) Do It Clean (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen

7) Independence Day (Album Version): The Comsat Angels

8) Israel (Single Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees

9) Love Will Tear Us Apart (Album Version): Joy Division

10) My Perfect Cousin (Album Version): The Undertones

11) A Day Without Me (Album Version): U2

12) Being Boiled (Album Version): The Human League

23rd March 1980: Metro Music (#10): 3

20th April 1980: Call Me EP (#1): 5 

11th May 1980: Holiday 80 EP (#56): 12 *

11th May 1980: Hypnotised (#9): 10 

15th June 1980: Messages EP (#13): 1

13th July 1980: Waiting For A Miracle (# n/a): 7 **

20th July 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart EP (#13): 9

24th August 1980: Boy (# n/a): 11 

5th October 1980: The Puppet / Do It Clean EP (# n/a): 6

30th November 1980: Israel EP (#41): 8 

1st February 1981: Visage (#8): 2 ***

1st March 1981: Remain In Light (#14): 4 ****

Side One (46:12) (GD) (M)

 

* Being Boiled was re-released on the back of The Human League's chart success and peaked at #6 in January 1982.  

** Neither single nor album troubled the UK charts in 1980, but a re-recorded version of Independence Day made it to #71 in January 1984 

*** Fade To Grey first entered the UK singles chart on 14th December 1980

**** Remain In Light entered the UK album chart on 26th October 1980 and that, M'lud, is my sole defence!

I Don't Want To Overstay My Welcome

Peter Perrett shared a new song and video, I Wanna Go With Dignity, earlier this week.

It's the lead song from his third (third!) solo album since 2017, something that was difficult to imagine in the years leading up to his unexpected comeback. 

I Wanna Go With Dignity is dedicated to Fiona H. Stevenson aka Fay Wolftree, a writer for Irish music magazine Hot Press, who passed in 2003 (You can find a touching remembrance by former colleague and paramour Paul O'Mahony here). The song's lyrics are also inspired in part by David Cavanagh, also a music writer for the likes of Mojo, Select, Sounds, Q and Uncut, who died in 2018. (With a moving obituary by fellow writer John Harris here) Both lives ended tragically: Fiona believed to be via a prescription drug overdose; David by suicide. Both also interviewed Peter during their careers. 

The fact that Peter Perrett is still with us is often remarked on as a thing of wonder. A 2020 feature on the Deserter website begins "Peter Perrett has only ever had two jobs: Rock star and drug lord."

In another 2020 interview with Please Kill Me, Peter states that he has been substance free since 2015 and now has "this hobby called music that makes me happier than drugs ever did so…"

Clearly the drugs were not an enabler as the three post-habit albums - How The West Was Won (2017), Humanworld (2019) and now The Cleansing (2024) - amply demonstrate. If I Wanna Go With Dignity is any indication of the 19 songs that follow on the upcoming double album, it'll be another storming collection.

"I know some of the subject matter is death, suicide and depression," Peter comments in the promo blurb, "but I feel there is an uplifting atmosphere to the album, because I'm obviously enjoying recognising what is going on around me."

I can get with that. I'm also going to get the The Cleansing via Bandcamp when it's released in November.